In this chapter, and the next two chapters, we see that David’s troubles and the trouble for his household are continued to be lived out as Nathan the prophet told him earlier, 2 Samuel 12:10. After all the evil acts that Absalom had done over the years, in his rebellion against his father, David, in this chapter, we read Absalom’s death.
As David and his men are preparing to go to war against Absalom and his men, David divides his men into three groups: one third will be under the command of Joab, another third will be under the command of Abishai, and another third will be under the command of Ittai, 2 Samuel 18:1-2.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘By this time, David’s small company was greatly recruited; but what its number was we cannot tell. Josephus says it amounted to four thousand men. Others have supposed that they amounted to ten thousand, for thus they understand a clause in 2 Samuel 18:3, which they think should be read, We are now ten thousand strong.’
This practice of dividing an army into three was fairly common in the Old Testament: Judges 7:16 / Judges 9:43 / 1 Samuel 11:11 / 1 Samuel 13:17 / 2 Kings 9:5-6.
However, there was also another good reason for dividing the army into three here: Ittai had brought a group of foreigners with him, and they would have been very reluctant to fight under an Israelite commander, so David placed the foreigners under Ittai and the Israelite troops under his nephews Joab and Abishai.
David was keen to go and fight with his men, 2 Samuel 18:2, but his men advised him not to, 2 Samuel 18:3. It’s obvious that David’s men thought the cause of the nation as a whole was greater than David himself.
There’s no question that they were loyal to David as God’s anointed king, and they understood that Absalom’s rebellion wasn’t just against his father, David, but against the nation of Israel as a whole.
If David had died on the battlefield, then everyone in Israel would have come to the conclusion that God wasn’t with him anymore. The commanders of David’s army knew that this war was going to be a bloody war.
They weren’t just fighting for David; they were fighting for the future of Israel as a whole. David is well aware of this, 2 Samuel 18:4, and so commands Joab, Abishai and Ittai to be gentle with his son Absalom after they have won the war, 2 Samuel 18:5. In other words, David wanted to spare Absalom’s life.
The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim, 2 Samuel 18:6 / Judges 12:1-6, although this place is uncertain in its location. Some believe it’s located on the east side of the Jordan because that’s where Absalom and his men crossed over earlier, 2 Samuel 17:24, and David’s men returned to Mahanaim that day after the battle ended, and that was east of Jordan, 2 Samuel 17:27.
The text doesn’t tell us who the twenty-thousand were, 2 Samuel 18:7. It doesn’t say whether the casualties were from David’s men or Absalom’s men or both. We can presume that most of the casualties were probably from Absalom’s side because, as we shall see in a moment, Absalom flees for his life.
‘The forest swallowed up more men than the sword’, 2 Samuel 18:8, probably refers to the many cliffs and large rocks which were located in the forest where men would have slipped or fallen to their death.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning 2 Samuel 18:8.
‘Probably Absalom’s forces were far more numerous than David’s, but, most likely by Joab’s skilful generalship, the field of battle was such that numbers did not tell, and David’s veteran troops were able to destroy Absalom’s rabble in detail. The wood entangled them, and was perhaps full of pits, precipices, and morasses, 2 Samuel 18:17.’
When Absalom meets David’s men accidentally, his only choice was to get away from them in order to save his life, sadly, the only form of transport was a mule, and as he passed under a tree, his hair got caught in a tree, leaving him hanging there, 2 Samuel 18:9. Remember he had very long hair, 1 Samuel 14:25-26.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It has been supposed that Absalom was caught by the hair, but no such thing is intimated in the text. Probably his neck was caught in the fork of a strong bough, and he was nearly dead when Joab found him; for it is said, 2 Samuel 18:14, he was yet alive, an expression which intimates he was nearly dead.’
One of David’s men found Absalom hanging there, 2 Samuel 18:10. Joab couldn’t understand why he left him alive and even offered to pay him ten shekels of silver, Genesis 20:16 / Genesis 37:28 / Exodus 38:24, and a warrior’s belt to kill Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:11.
It’s possible that Joab remembered the bad advice he gave David earlier when Absalom ran away after killing Ammon, 2 Samuel 14:1-22. However, the man respected David’s earlier words to spare his life, 2 Samuel 18:12 / 2 Samuel 18:4. The man tells Joab that if he had put his life in jeopardy and nothing is hidden from the king, Absalom would have kept your distance from him, 2 Samuel 18:13.
This time, Joab wasn’t going to give Absalom another chance to rebel against his father, David, so he took three javelins and plunged them into Absalom’s heart whilst he was still alive, 2 Samuel 18:14. Ten of Joab’s armour-bearers also joined in to make sure Absalom was dead, 2 Samuel 18:15.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Joab should have obeyed the king’s commandment, and yet the safety of the state required the sacrifice of Absalom. But independently of this, his life was quadruply forfeited to the law.
1. In having murdered his brother Amnon.
2. In having excited an insurrection in the state.
3. In having taken up arms against his own father, Deuteronomy 21:18 / Deuteronomy 21:21.
4. In having lain with his father’s concubines, Leviticus 18:29. Long ago, he should have died by the hand of justice; and now all his crimes are visited on him in his last act of rebellion. Yet, in the present circumstances, Joab’s act was base and disloyal, and a cowardly murder.’
Because Joab sounded the trumpet, 2 Samuel 18:16, this tells us that he was in charge of all three groups of David’s army. After the sounding of the trumpet, which announced that Joab had won the victory, 2 Samuel 2:28 / 2 Samuel 20:22. They threw Absalom’s body into a big pit in the forest and placed large rocks over him, 2 Samuel 18:17.
The King’s Valley, 2 Samuel 18:18, is where Absalom had built his own monument because this was where his three sons died, 2 Samuel 14:27. It’s also the place where Abram met with Melchizedek, Genesis 14:17. Notice it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day, 2 Samuel 18:18 / 1 Samuel 15:12.
David had earlier executed the messenger who brought him the news of Saul’s death, 2 Samuel 1:15-16, and he also executed the ones who brought him the news of the death of Ish-Bosheth, 2 Samuel 4:5-12.
It appears that Joab wanted to spare Ahimaaz the danger he would encounter if he brought David the news of the death of his son Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:19. Joab decides to send a Cushite, 2 Samuel 18:20-21, with the news to David, which Joab knew would break David’s heart. The race was on to get to David first, 2 Samuel 18:21-23.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The floor of the valley through which the Jordan runs. The Cushite did not run by that road, but took the road over the hills, which may well have been the shorter but also the more difficult road. The two roads would probably meet a short distance from Mahanaim. These words, which have been thought to prove that the battle took place on the west of Jordan, are a clear proof that it took place on the east, because if the runners had had to cross the Jordan, they must both have come by the same road, which it is clear they did not.’
While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, and as he looked out, he saw a man running alone, 2 Samuel 18:24.
The watchman then calls out and reports it to David, and David assumes that if he is alone, he must have good news, and we are told that the runner came closer and closer, 2 Samuel 18:25.
Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper and told him there was another man running alone, and David once again assumed that he must be bringing good news, too, 2 Samuel 18:26.
The watchman identifies the first runner as one who runs like Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, and David says he’s a good man who comes with good news, 2 Samuel 18:27.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Ahimaaz was a well-known runner, 2 Samuel 18:27. Speed was a heroic virtue in those simple times, 2 Samuel 2:18. In Hezekiah’s reign, 2 Chronicles 30:6 / 2 Chronicles 30:10, we find an establishment of running post-men and the same name (‘runners’) is given, Esther 3:13, to the Persian posts, though at that time they rode on mules and camels.’
Ahimaaz calls out to David and says, all is well and then he bowed down before David with his face to the ground and said, praise be to the LORD your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king, 2 Samuel 18:28.
When Ahimaaz was asked by David about his son, he deliberately lied, 2 Samuel 18:29, because Joab had plainly told him that Absalom was dead. The reason for his lying is simply that he knew that David might kill him for bringing this kind of news as he had done with others before. David then tells him to stand aside and wait here, and he did so, 2 Samuel 18:30.
When the Cushite arrives, he tells David to hear the good news. The LORD has vindicated David today by delivering him from the hand of all who rose up against him, 2 Samuel 18:31.
He tells David the truth concerning Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:32, and the news of David’s son being dead just devastated him, 2 Samuel 18:33. David wants to be alone to cry, and on his way, he says, ‘my son, my son Absalom!’ 2 Samuel 18:33.
This is truly a sad moment in the life of David, and it’s no wonder he personally feels responsible for Absalom’s death and feels it should be him who had died because he was the one who ordered the murder of Uriah, and he knew that this was a part of God’s punishment, 1 Samuel 12:10 / Psalm 38 / Psalm 40.